EMDR Therapy in NYC: What to Expect and How it Can Help You

Have you heard about EMDR Therapy but are uncertain about what to expect or if it is right for you? If so, read on to learn more about what EMDR therapy is and how it works: this blog post is for you!

What is EMDR Therapy? 

Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing Therapy (EMDR) is a eight-phased, evidence-based protocol created by Francine Shapiro, PhD in order to help you reprocess trauma, anxiety and more. EMDR utilizes bilateral stimulation (such as back-and-forth eye movements, tapping or sounds) to desensitize memories, lessen emotional charge, rewire negative core beliefs and creating lasting changes. Here’s what to expect during each phase of EMDR Therapy. 

What are the Phases of EMDR Therapy?

Phase 1: History Taking and Treatment Planning 

This first phase is really the “get to know you” phase that may be similar to other types of therapy. During this phase, the therapist is getting to know what brings you to therapy, what your goals are, and how your history informs your current presentation. During this phase, you and your therapist will create a treatment plan together, often centered around which memories, beliefs, images or sensations feel most important to target in the therapy. 

Phase 2: Preparation 

During this phase, you begin to form a secure and trusting relationship with your therapist. Your therapist will often explain how EMDR therapy works and address any concerns you may have. This is the time where you can ask the therapist about any expectations you may have for your work together. Your therapist will also provide you with tools to help you cope with distress during the work together. Some of these tools including installing a Safe, Calm State, installing a Container to help contain your emotional experiences, and helping you cultivate positive resources you can pull from, such as internal strength, wisdom or compassion, or external resources, such as companionship, nature or journaling. 

Phase 3: Assessment 

During this phase, you and your therapist will decide on which specific target, also known as the belief, sensation, memory or image, you would like to begin working on. Here, the therapist will ask you questions pertaining to his target, such as what negative beliefs are associated with this target, what positive beliefs you would prefer to feel instead and how distressing this target feels to you now. This phase allows the therapist to get a baseline for assessing treatment progress as the therapy continues. 

Phase 4: Desensitization 

This phase focuses on using dual attention bilateral stimulation (BLS) to densensitize and reprocess the target decided upon at the beginning. BLS can include back-and-forth eye movements, tapping or sounds. During this phase, you will continue BLS until your distress decreases. You may also have new images or thoughts come up as this happens. 

Phase 5: Installation

During this phase, you will use BLS to help strengthen and reinforce the positive belief until it feels fully true for you. It’s okay if the positive belief changed from the one who decided upon at the beginning. 

Phase 6: Body Scan 

During this scan, you will keep in mind both the target and positive belief while scanning your body from head to toe. You will be asked to describe any disturbance you feel while doing this. If you do feel disturbance, the therapist will guide you through more BLS until you do not feel disturbance during the body scan. 

Phase 7: Closure 

During this phase, the therapist will help you get to a calm place in the present, regardless of whether you have finished reprocessing the current target. 

Phase 8: Reevaluation 

During the next session, the therapist will ask you about whether your distress is low and your positive belief is strong. If not, the therapist may guide you to go back to the desensitization phase. It is not uncommon l for distress levels to change between sessions, as the brain continues to reprocess along the memory network. If there has been no change, the therapist will likely discuss moving to the next target in your treatment plan with you. 

Who Is EMDR Therapy For? 

EMDR has been proven most effective in research to treat Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and trauma-related conditions, as well as anxiety disorders. You do not need to have a PTSD diagnosis to benefit from EMDR therapy. EMDR also shows emerging promise in helping those with concerns around self-esteem, self-doubt and comparison. If you are interested in learning more about EMDR and trauma therapy, reach out to schedule a free consultation call.

At Align Therapy Services, Dr. Rachel Larrain Montoni, Ph.D., and Molly Martin, LMSW can help you get the support you need to begin your healing journey. Finding an EMDR therapist can feel like an overwhelming and anxiety-provoking task. Scheduling a consultation is the first step to getting the support you need. Meeting with the right therapist can help you to recognize patterns that aren’t serving you, develop healthy coping skills, and forge a brighter path ahead. If you found this blog post helpful, know that we are here to help you heal from trauma-related symptoms and/or PTSD. Please feel free to reach out to us today - let’s see if we are a good match for you.